Elvis Fashion

Jan 19, 2004

One of the first big Elvis book publications for 2004 is “Elvis Fashion”. This book is a cooperation between Julie Mundy and Graceland.
Design
The book is a big A4 size hardcover book with over 200 full color high quality pages. The design is very colorful and attractive; you simply keep on browsing through it. Strangly enough this book is printed in Belgium.
Elvis had a thing for clothes, from the flashy designs he bought as a teenager at Lansky Bros., to the suits that became his trademark with the general public until today, if only for the cartoons.
This book takes us through Elvis life “clothes-wise”, from the shoes he wore touring the Southern States with Scotty Moore and Bill Black to the Sundial Suit he word during his last performance.
All the clothing is photographed in a very good way, all the attention goes to the clothing. Besides the clothing background information is added, designs are shown and we see Elvis wearing most of the clothes presented, in both known and unknown photo’s.
Accessories, jewelry, boots, original designs and bills complement the clothing. A lot of images have been shot in various places in the Graceland mansion, adding a lot to the presentation. It has some simmularities to the magazine “Then And Now” which was published for the 25th Anniversary of Elvis’ death. This book is what that magazine should have been.
We get a lot of suits currently on display at Graceland and most suits are from the early seventies, few of the last years. Browsing the pages you see a lot of things you know, we would have loved to see some lesser known suits, and some more suits. That way both the average and more fanatic “jumpsuit junkies” are pleased. The other thing we miss are the “names” of the suits that are known by the fans. Some names are dropped in the text, but especially the “jumpsuit junkies” know all suits by name, something that could have been used easily in the presentation of these suits.
Conclusion
A lot of fans, including ourselves, complain about the products EPE delivers, but sometimes they outdo themselves and deliver a great product. This book is one if them. This book is a new essential; together with The Graceland Inventory book this one paints a great picture personal picture of the man Elvis Presley.

Has anyone noticed that the shirt on page 50 is not the same shirt that Elvis wore in the film "Jailhouse Rock". The buttonholes are in the wrong place for a start, along with a few other subtle differences. Take a look a the picture of Elvis supposedly wearing this shirt in the photo beneath it.

Very high quality book. The photography is nothing short of SPECTACULAR! Clarity of detail is brilliant. I am sorry that there is so little of the 50s clothing still around, but that's understandable -- both age and Parker taking the scissors to E's clothing, the idiot! I would still like to see a book dedicated to the jumpsuits that would include "names", original sketches, good quality photos of the suits, both on Elvis and off (LOL) and would love the additional information as to where the suits are now. Just my fantasy...